Remember Me
by GA101
Summary: Castle wakes up in a hospital bed, and the last thing he remembers is telling Kate he loves her as he hangs over her lifeless body at Montgomery's funeral. But Kate is sitting at his bedside, unharmed. This story is about how Castle learns to deal with his memory loss as he struggles to get all he has forgotten back. AU.
1. One second

"Beckett!"

Kate immediately found herself in Esposito's arms. He'd been the only other person at the precinct when she had gotten the phone call. The only other person who had seen her face drop when the news had been delivered.

The only other person who knew that Rick Castle was currently on an OR table, fighting for his life.

God, she needed to call Martha.

"I..."

Esposito forced her to take a seat.

_As soon as she had hung up the phone, she had raced down the stairs, to her car and drove as fast as the New York traffic would let her, all the way to the hospital. _

_He had followed her, at the time not knowing what was happening, but knew that wherever she was going, she shouldn't be alone. Thinking it might have to do with the case they were working, he knew he couldn't let her go without back-up. He knew he would have gotten shot. Castle would have killed him..._

"Kate, breathe."

_However, when she pulled into the hospital's parking lot, he was overly confused. He saw her jump out of her car, and he quickly pulled into the next closest spot to the door. He made it into the building just in time to hear Kate talking to the receptionist. _

_"Castle, Richard Castle."_

_Shit, he thought to himself. _

_"Beckett!"_

_And then she crumbled. _

"What happened?" he asked, as calmly as possible.

"There was an accident. He... he was hit... A drunk driver... And now... he's... Oh god, they... They don't know if he's gonna wake up..."

Esposito brought her in again and cursed the sky for doing this to them.

"Kate, you know that Castle is strong and stubborn. He's not going to let this be the end. Tomorrow morning, he'll probably be in there telling all the nurses his life story."

Kate couldn't help but smile.

"Yeah, you're right... I... I need to..."

He took her cell phone that she had been playing with.

"I'll call Martha," he said. "You just stay here."

_Stay here_, she thought. _You better stay here Castle. _


	2. Seven years

_"__Kate, __I love you , I love you__ Kate__." _

_"__Kate, __I love you, I love you__ Kate__." _

"I love you Kate..."

"Castle, open your eyes. It's me."

It was torture, the lights were bright and his eye lids were so heavy, but Castle managed to open his eyes just enough to see Kate leaning over his bedside.

"Oh Castle!" she squealed. She threw her arms around him, but was very cautious to not hurt him.

And that's when everything came flooding back to him. Montgomery's funeral. The sniper.

_"__Kate, __I love you, I love you__ Kate__." _

Then nothing.

He quickly looked over to Kate, fear in his eyes.

"Kate, oh my god, are you okay? Are you alright?"

She looked at him with a puzzled glance. "What are you talking about Rick?"

_Rick?_ _Since when does Beckett call me Rick?_

"You were shot Beckett! How am I the one in the hospital bed?"

Kate shook her head in confusion. She repeated the question. "Rick, _what_ are you talking about!"

Castle sighed in exasperation. "You were shot at Montgomery's funeral! You... I... I told you that I..."

Just then, the doctor came into the room. "Richard Castle, it's good to see you awake! I'm Dr Abbot."

They both looked up to the doctor as he entered the room, and the doctor quickly noticed the confused look on their faces.

"What happened?" Richard asked, finally wondering what hell he was doing in the hospital bed.

"You were in a car crash. A drunk driver struck you head on. You suffered some minor head injuries but you've been unconscious for about two weeks."

Richard seemed shocked. "A car crash?" he asked, not remembering anything about a car crash... _I was at the funeral, not in a car crash..._

The doctor looked at his patient questioningly. "Mr Castle, what's the last thing you remember?"

He sighed. "We were at Montgomery's funeral!" he exclaimed. He looked at Kate. "I... I told you that I loved you..." He wasn't able to meet Kate's eyes as he said this, but did register the shock on her face. He quickly looked back at the doctor. "Why does everyone keep asking!"

The doctor sighed as he realized what was happening. "It looks like your suffering from memory loss."

Kate couldn't help but let out a small cry. "Oh God..."

"Beckett, what's wrong?" he asked, worriedly.

"I... I need to go..." she said as she left the room.

Richard sighed and shook his head. "I finally confessed my true feelings to her... I knew she wouldn't be able to handle them. I...""

The doctor continued asking questions as he checked his vitals. "You said you told her this at Montgomery's funeral?"

Richard nodded. "She had been shot... I..." He paused and looked at his doctor. "What's going on?"

The doctor sighed. "I feel like I'm not in the position to tell you these things just yet. I know, it's hard, but I'm going to go handle a few things and we'll clear up this mess later. Try to get some sleep, alright?"

Richard wanted to know what the hell was happening, but as the doctor uttered the words sleep, his eyes drooped.

_What's happening?_

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

"Kate!"

Kate quickly turned her head and once Martha saw the look on her face, she began rushing towards her. "Are you alright? Is everything okay? What happened?"

The older woman brought her into her arms as she sobbed on her shoulder.

"Oh God, Martha, he's awake..."

Martha pulled back, shocked. "That's great!"

Kate shook her head. "He's suffering from memory loss."

Martha seemed confused.

Just then, the doctor approached the pair, having just exited Rick's room. "Ms Rodgers, Det. Beckett," he said, motioning the chairs. "Why don't we sit down?"

Beckett nodded, needing to know just how bad this was.

"What's going on doctor?" Martha asked, still not clear on the whole memory loss thing.

"Memory loss. It could be temporary, however it could be permanent." He paused, then turned towards Kate. "Richard says his last memory is of Montgomery's funeral... He's talking about Roy Montgomery, am I correct?"

Kate nodded as she sobbed in her hands.

"But... but that was..." Martha started, unbelieving.

"7 years ago."

**Well, it's been a while since I've had this story written, but I just haven't had the chance to post it. I wrote it sometime during mid-season 5, so there will be a few things that don't match the second half of the season and season 6. The story has nine chapters, but the chapters to come are much longer than the two first ones. Hope you all enjoy ! **


	3. Two rings

"Kate, I just talked to Grams! Is it true?"

She sighed. "Alexis, I know it's tough to digest, but we need to stay strong."

Alexis was in shock. "7 years... That's..."

"Everything," Kate said as her eyes teared up. "That's everything..."

Both ends of the line were silent. Finally, Alexis spoke up.

"How much does he know about what's going on?" she asked, hesitantly.

"Nothing yet, really. He knows he's suffering from memory loss, but he doesn't know just how bad it is. I... when he kept talking about how Montgomery's funeral was the last thing he remembered, I needed to leave, clear my head. By the time I came back, he was asleep."

Alexis couldn't wrap her head around everything. I was just too much.

"I know this may be hard to accept, but Martha and I have decided that we're going to visit his limitation to just me for now, at least for today and as long as you're okay with that. We just don't want to overwhelm him right away."

Alexis let out a small laugh. "I know what you mean. And I understand, completely. Jake and I will be staying at the loft for as long as you need, so don't worry about anything here."

Kate thanked her quickly before hanging up.

It was moments later that Castle began opening his eyes.

"I always dreamed that if I was to ever wake up in hospital bed, yours was the first face I wanted to see."

She couldn't help but laugh at the dreamy look he gave her.

"I'm glad to be of service, Castle." She said his last name, but it sounded weird to her. _Start him with baby steps._

He smiled. "So you gonna tell me what's going on now?"

Kate sighed.

"You're suffering from memory loss."

Castle nodded. "I've understood that much. So... how bad?"

Kate looked down. "Montgomery's funeral was seven years ago."

His eyes bulged from his skull. "Seven years?" he choked out.

She nodded and gave his mind time to register this information.

When he finally spoke, he couldn't help but smile. "So I guess if you're here sitting at my bedside, it must mean we're still partners, right?" he asked, hopefully.

Kate couldn't help but smile as she took his hand. "Partners," she agreed.

"That's one long lasting partnership Beckett. How do you do it?"

She couldn't help but laugh. "I don't know how I do it," she agreed, "put up with your ass everyday for as long as I have."

He laughed as he ran his fingers up and down her hand. It wasn't long before he suddenly stopped, picked up her hand, stared at the rings on her fingers and looked her back in the eye.

"You and doctor boy?" he asked, a little bit of sadness in the back of his stare. He shook his head. "Who am I kidding. It's been seven years, it could be anyone."

She nodded sadly. "Yeah, anyone."

He looked at her curiously, noticing the pain in her eyes. No matter his current situation, her safety was always a priority to him and the expression on her face had him worried. "Kate, does he hurt you?"

She looked up quickly, realizing that Castle had misinterpreted her actions. "No, he's... He's the perfect gentleman."

Castle nodded slowly. "Well as long as he treats you right." He paused. "Do I know him?"

Beckett smiled as she nodded. "You do, actually. You came to our wedding."

"Yeah?" he asked quietly.

"Yeah," she said, a smile building on her face. "In fact," she continued as she stood and made her way to the other side of his bed, "you played a very important role in the wedding." As she said this, she pulled her wedding ring from her finger and passed it over to him to inspect.

He took it, but had no idea what the significance was. His fingers shook as he handled the ring and he could feel his heart breaking at the realization Kate was now a married woman and that he had lost his chance.

"So..." he started, trying to hide the disappointment in his voice, masking it with humor, "I was the ring bearer?"

Kate rolled her eyes, not understanding how a man who was to smart for his own good could not figure this one out. She reached over and tilted the ring, enough so that the man in question could read the inscription engraved on the inside of the band.

_Always_

He had to blink to make sure he was reading it properly. "But... That's... It's"

Kate took his left hand in hers and finished his thought for him. "Our word?"

As if not trusting that this was real, he glanced down at their intertwined fingers and gasped when he noticed the matching band on his ring finger.

He looked back up at her, a light in his eye that Kate hadn't seen in his yet that day. "You... you and I?"

Kate too had a sparkle in her eye. "No Castle, you were the ring bearer," she repeated his words with a laugh. She sat on the edge of his bed as she ran a hand through his hair.

His eyes twinkled in return. "You're just playing with me. Are... are we actually married?"

She smiled. "If I'm married, and your married, but we're not married to each other, would I do this?" She leaned down and kissed him, leaving him breathless.

When they pulled apart, he couldn't help but stare into her eyes. "Maybe. After all, the sight of me in a hospital bed is probably irresistible.

She laughed. "You definitely didn't forget your ever so charming personality."

He was shocked. "Did Kate Beckett just... complement me?"

She smiled. "That's Castle to you sir." His shock at what she had uttered was made clear on his face and it warmed her heart to see the constant twinkling in his eye shine brighter and brighter. She leaned down and kissed him again, this time letting it linger.

"God, you have no idea how long I've wanted to do that," he said as he pulled her in again.

"Clearly longer than me. I do believe it's only been two weeks, which may I say is the longest I ever want to be apart from you ever again."

He pulled her in again. She giggled.

"I have 7 years to make up for," he used as an excuse.

"I'm not complaining."

He smiled as he pulled her in, once again.

"The doctor must have thought I was crazy when I told him that you must of run off because I had confessed my love to you at the funeral."

She laughed. "As I'm sure you can tell, you loving me isn't much of a secret anymore." She paused. "And Rick? I love you too."

His heart fluttered. He knew it surely wasn't the first time she had uttered those words, but to him it was the first time he remembered hearing them.

They just stared into each others eyes for a few more minutes.

"Where is everyone else?"

"Mom and I decided that for today, I'd be your only visitor, as to not overwhelm you."

Castle gave her a curious look. "Mom?"

She laughed. "Martha. God, I forgot already... It's just so natural now."

Castle's eyes twinkled. "You call my mother Mom?"

Kate nodded. "Anyway, once you feel up to seeing more people, your room will be so crowded, you just wait and see." It the flowers were any indication, there wouldn't be enough room by his bedside for all of his well wishers. "You can decide when you're ready."

Castle nodded. "A few people at a time," he decided. "Mother and Alexis... Oh!" he realized suddenly. "Alexis... she's got to be, 24?"

Kate nodded. "That's one of the main reasons we thought it better to prepare you before inviting people."

"My little girl... I can only picture her as 17, no older. This is just too weird..."

"Tell me about it," Kate said as she gripped his hand tighter.

"Are Ryan and Esposito still in the picture?"

Kate nodded and smiled. "The boys still have my back, more than ever since you've been gone."

"Gone?" Castle said, confused. "But I thought you said we were still partners?"

Kate laughed. "We are. We're just not the same kind of partners anymore. We're more than partners."

Castle smiled as she stretched out across the bed and cuddled into his embrace.

"The last thing I remember is me confessing my love to you, and the next thing I know, you're my wife and we're cuddling."

She turned in his arms and faced him, their chests one against the other, their noses nearly touching.

"Is it weird, that "sudden" change? Because, if you're not comfortable with all of this yet, that thing about giving you a little bit of time and space to adjust-"

He cut her off with a kiss and wrapped his arms around her waist. "Don't you dare. You're perfect where you are." They both took in to giggling. "And yeah, it's kind of bizarre, yet I know it's exactly where we're supposed to be so I definitely don't need any space."

Kate watched him as he kept glancing back at his ring. "It's hard," he confessed suddenly, "not remembering marrying the love of your life. I... seven years. So much could have happened in seven years."

Kate lifted his chin so he was looking her in the eye. "I was rushed to the hospital after the shooting, and when I had been in the clear, I told you I needed space and that I would contact you when I was ready to deal with my life." She sighed. "It took me three months, but when I got back to work and found out you had spent the entire time working on my mom's case, I knew I needed to find you. So, I went to one of your book signings. We talked, and we went back to being partners, but it took us a year before we finally gave into our feelings. It was clearly inevitable, with all the situations we had been put through during the year, which I will tell you more about as time goes by," she added to answer his silent question, "but we found each other. It had been another case that related back to my mother, and when I refused to step back, you told me you loved me, again, and that you didn't want to see me throw my life away. I was too blinded by the need for revenge at the time to let my own feelings for you surface, so we ended things between us. It wasn't until I was hanging off the ledge of a building, slipping towards my death that I realized you were more important to me than anything else. Vengeance wouldn't be worth anything if I couldn't share it with you. So, I showed up on your doorstep, soaking wet and I finally gave into everything.

"We were able to keep our relationship under wraps for about the first six months, and we were partners inside and outside the precinct walls but when you popped the question and the gossip writers caught wind of it, Gates, the new captain" she added, "had to put an end to the team. We knew it was bound to happen, but it was worth being able to spend the rest of my life with you as your wife so we took it without complaining. You still help the team out when you can."

"So you said yes?" he had to ask, yet already knowing the answer.

Kate giggled. "I said yes. You admitted you weren't sure I was going to, wondering if it was too early but I assured you four and a half years was plenty of time.

"So, in the spring of the year, we got married, surrounded by all of our loved ones. It was beautiful and I knew then and there, and still know now that I married my one and done. But to make the event even more amazing, the people who were the causes of my mothers murder and my near deaths had been caught in the week leading up to our wedding, and I had nothing to do with it. And I was okay with that. I participated in being able to put the offenders behind bars by giving the leading investigators all of our information and by testifying, so I was satisfied. We were able to start our lives together without the fear for my safety weighing on my mind."

"So, we've been married five years?" Castle asked, making sure he had followed the time line.

Kate smiled and nodded. "Five beautiful years."

"A lot must have happened in five years..." he started, hoping for more story.

She shook her head. "That's enough for tonight hun." The endearment gave Castle butterflies.

"Can... Would you be able to stay here, beside me tonight? I want to feel you close to me, especially... especially after everything you've told me..."

Kate nodded. "Of course Rick. I just need to go make a quick phone call."

And quick it was. She hadn't been gone more than three minutes before she was back, snuggled in his embrace.

"Kate?" Castle whispered when they were quiet.

"Yeah?" she said, turning to face him.

"I love you," he said with a smile, finally being able to admit it to her conscious form.

She smiled at how much she knew those words meant to him right now. "I love you too Rick."

**Hope you guys enjoyed it ! I'd love to hear what you guys think ! Reviews are always greatly appreciated (:**


	4. Five fingers

It was nearly nine o'clock when Richard woke up and it took him a little while before he remembered what had happened. The accident, the memory loss... Kate telling him all about the beginning of their relationship...

_I'm married to Kate Beckett._ He ran it through his mind multiple times. He still had a hard time believing it.

"What's on your mind Rick?"

He looked into Kate's now opened eyes and he shook his head.

"Swear to me this isn't one of those Punk'd shows," he asked, the most serious look on his face.

Kate laughed. "What are you talking about?" She stopped laughing when she realized just how serious he was. "Oh Rick..." She placed her hand on his cheek and rubbed her thumb under his eye. "Everything is very real Rick. Everything I told you yesterday is the truth."

He nodded, but his expression stayed just as serious. "I... We're married Kate... Ever since the first day we met, I knew I was falling for you. You weren't just another woman I wanted to spend a night with. I wanted you for the rest of my life and here we are... I still haven't completely wrapped my head around it..."

She gave him a sad smile. "I'm here, always, Love, and we'll get through this one obstacle at a time."

He buried his head in her chest as she held him tight against her, her own tears threatening to escape at his vulnerability.

When he eventually pulled away and each of them noticed the others teary eyes, they laughed a little before gently wiping the others eyes.

"We're a mess," Kate said with a laugh and a sniffle.

Castle nodded. "Yeah, but we're messes together."

She leaned in and kissed him, feeling him smile against her lips.

"What time is it?" she asked as she started sitting up.

Automatically, Castle glanced down at his wrist, finding a watch he had never seen before. "Uhm.. Almost nine o'clock."

Kate turned around and looked at him, shocked. "I was sure we'd be up at the crack of dawn, what with the doctors doing rounds and all..."

"Are you all right?" Castle suddenly asked, noticing the panic in her eyes.

She looked him in the eye before speaking up. "You know that phone call I made last night?" He nodded. "After seeing how well you had been taking everything, I may have arranged for a few visitors. Just a few, I promise."

Castle laughed. "I trust you. What's the big panic?"

Kate sat in the chair beside his bed and took his hand. "I didn't say anything last night because you already had been faced with so much and I thought I'd have time to prepare you this morning... It's huge Rick and you're going to be overwhelmed but I need you to keep an open mind, okay?"

Rick couldn't help but laugh at Kate's panicked ramble. "Like I said, I trust you and for anything to be this early in the morning, I know it's got to be important." His smile was suddenly wiped from his face as a thought occurred to him. "Is Alexis pregnant?"

Before Kate had a chance to say anything, she heard the little feet approaching the room and before she knew it, the little boy in question stood in the doorway.

"Rick..." she started when she saw the puzzled look on his face.

He didn't have the chance to question it before the little boy ran across the room and jumped onto his bed, all while exclaiming, "Daddy!"

Rick gasped as he looked deep into Kate's eyes. "Daddy?"

Kate smiled to their son as she picked him up from his father's bed. "Hey Zach hun, I know you're excited to see your dad, but we need you to understand something very important, okay?"

He nodded as he looked into his mother's eyes. "Okay mummy," he said, wrapping his arms around her neck.

Castle watched Kate and Zach in awe. The way she was with him was so natural, so perfect. He could tell already that she was an amazing mother.

And that's when the realization hit him.

He and Kate had a kid.

They were parents.

Together.

As much as he was in shock, he couldn't help the enormous smile that built on his lips.

Kate looked over at him in that very instance and relief washed over her when she saw that smile.

She turned back to her son. "Remember that movie we watched where the boy gets taken by aliens and when he gets home, he doesn't remember anyone?"

He nodded.

"Well daddy sort of has the same problem and just like the boys family, we have to help him remember everything."

Zach's eyes bulged from his little head. "Was daddy taken by aliens?" he asked.

Castle couldn't help but laugh. "I wish, that would've been really cool."

Kate rolled her eyes, but laughed anyway.

"Come here," Castle said as he tapped the bed beside him. Zach looked to Kate as if asking for permission and she simply smiled as she set her son down beside his father.

"I was in an accident," he explained. "And just like the aliens, the accident had powers to wipe my brain and make me forget a lot of things."

"How come you remember mommy then?"

_How do you explain memory loss to a four year old? _Kate thought sadly. But Rick beat her to the punch.

"I remember mommy because only bits and pieces of my brain were wiped. We've know each other a very long time, so the accident wasn't able to take everything I know away."

Zach nodded, trying to understand. Castle took the opportunity to really get a look at the little boy.

He looked a lot like Alexis had at that age, minus the red hair. He had brown waves and big Beckett eyes. His cheeks seemed to have a permanent reddish tinge and he had freckles scattered along his little nose.

He was the perfect combination of him and Kate.

"Does that mean you don't remember Lacy either?" he asked, innocently.

At the unknown name, Richard looked up at Kate's smiling face.

As if on cue, his mother and who he assumed to be Lacy, walked through the door.

"I'm sorry he got away on me," she exclaimed. "He's visited so often that he knew his way better than I did!" She suddenly noticed her sons conscious presence. "Oh Richard, it's so good to see you awake!"

Richard raised his glance temporarily to his mother as she hugged him tightly. "It's good to be awake."

"You look good for someone who's been in a hospital bed for two weeks," she commented.

He laughed. "You... you've aged."

Martha rolled her eyes but couldn't help but laugh too.

And that's as much attention his mother got because his eyes were back on the little girl, now clinging to Kate's arm looking at him.

She was her exact miniature replica.

"Uppy, uppy!" she exclaimed, pulling Kate's sleeve.

Kate picked her up and turned towards her husband and son. Before she was able to say anything else, Lacy pointed towards Castle. "Daddy's knee?"

Richard looked back into Kate's eyes, his tears threatening to spill out as the little girls words hit him.

They had a son.

And a daughter.

He and Kate had two perfect little kids.

And he couldn't remember them.

"Oh God..." he said as Lacy cuddled into his arms. He dropped a kiss on her head as he let his tears flow. "Oh God..."

Zach rested his little hand on his father's. "It's okay daddy, we'll help you 'member."

Castle nodded as his little girl swatted at his tears with her tiny little fingers. "Wat's wong daddy?"

He shook his head. "Nothing at all, not now that you're here." He pulled both of them in closer. He ran one hand back and forth through his sons waves as he held his daughter tightly against him. Martha and Kate just watched in silence as the scene unfolded before them, tears in their eyes.

"You can see why I couldn't keep these visitors away for long," Kate finally broke the silence, but only with a whisper as to not wake the now sleeping forms leaned up against their father.

"Kids Kate... we had kids together. That's..." He was still overwhelmed.

"I think I'm gonna pack them up and get them back home for lunch," Martha said, knowing that as much as her son needed to be with them, he also needed some time to let everything sink in. It had to be extremely overwhelming and Martha didn't want to suffocate him too much just yet. "Oh and if you're up for it, Alexis wants to stop by early this afternoon."

Castle nodded, a smile building on his face thinking about seeing his oldest daughter. He looked down at his two other kids, sleeping in his arms and woke them up gently. "Your grams is going to take you home for lunch, but how about you guys come back for another visit tomorrow? How does that sound?"

They both nodded, rubbing their eyes of sleep and leaned in to give their father hugs and kisses. Kate helped them both off the bed, all while leaving them with hugs and kisses also.

Before they knew it, it was just the two of them again.

And both of them were silent.

Kate slowly walked over to her husband's bedside and took a seat on the bed. He instinctively wrapped his arm around her and pulled her in closer. They were snuggled closely before either one of them spoke.

"Are you alright Rick?"

He didn't answer. He just stared blankly ahead of him.

"Oh God Rick, I'm so sorry... It was too soon and I should have told you and-"

He cut her off. "No Kate, it's not your fault. I'm... I'm glad that I got to see them... It's like you said, it was something you couldn't keep from me. I just..."

He trailed off as he looked away, trying to fight the tears.

"It's okay love, just let it out..."

Castle brought his hands to his eyes and was suddenly wracked with sobs. Kate held him tightly, running her hands up and down his arms, silently comforting him.

When he had calmed down a little bit, he spoke. "How can someone just forget they have kids? I mean... They're my kids and I don't even know them. They... Oh God, they know me and they're so strong... I don't know who they are but... Zach... He said he'll help me remember. He's so little! I should be teaching him how to tie his shoes, not watching him helping me try to remember who he is..."

Kate brought both of his hands in hers and kissed his knuckles. "Don't beat yourself up Rick. This is no where near your fault and they love you all the same. And you were great with them. It was natural, like nothing was different."

Castle nodded, deciding that she was right. It wasn't his fault and he wasn't going to change anything by beating himself up about it.

"How... How old are they?"

Kate smiled. "Zachary Alexander Castle just turned 4 and Lacy Johanna Castle will be two next month."

Richard couldn't help but smile as she said their full names. "Alexander and Johanna... Wow..."

Kate nodded. "They weren't hard to pick out."

Castle shook his head. "No I guess not." He paused. "Do you want to know what's weirdest about all this?"

Kate was curious. "What?"

Castle smiled. "I know that they're my kids - well Zach especially since he looks just like Alexis - however I know all about the birds and the bees and I find it to be the most bizarre sensation, knowing we created those beautiful children together, but not remembering ever, ever making love to you."

Kate saw the twinkle in his eye. "Well, you'll just have to make a quick recovery so we can change that, now won't we?"

**For all of you out there who wanted little Castle babies, well, you got them ! Hope you liked this one (:**


	5. Eight months

It was early afternoon when Kate and Castle, lazily snoozing in the small hospital bed, were woken by a light knocking at the door. Kate was the first to react, slowly getting up and out of bed, noticing the visitors look through the window.

"It's Alexis," Kate said as Castle regained consciousness. "I think she's just waiting for your signal that it's alright for her to come in."

Castle nodded and she leaned down and kissed him before heading towards the door.

"I think I'm gonna head home for a little while, check on the kids. It'll give you two some time alone," she said with a knowing smile. "You guys have a lot of catching up to do."

"Don't be gone too long," he said a with a wink.

Kate laughed at his antics but was just glad to see him a teasing state. After everything he had been through, she hadn't been sure what to expect. It definitely hadn't been this, but it was better than anything she had hoped for.

She made her way to the door and when she opened it, she noticed Alexis's hesitation. Kate turned back to her husband, who hadn't yet caught a glimpse of his daughter. "Are you alright alone for a few minutes?"

He nodded, knowing exactly what Kate was up to. Without a doubt, Kate and his daughter had surely become very close with the years if what he could remember was any indication of the blossoming relationship between the two. He was sure that Alexis was as nervous of him seeing her all grown up than he was of having to accept that she wasn't his little girl anymore and she needed a little bit of a boost from Kate.

"How is he?"

Kate smiled. "He's good, actually."

Alexis nodded. "Grams said that he took meeting Zach and Lacy really well."

Kate nodded in return. "He did. He... he might have had a hard time afterwards, accepting that he couldn't remember them, but I think he'll be okay."

"Is there... is there any chance that he ever remembers?"

Kate sighed. "The doctors have no idea. We'll just have to wait patiently."

Alexis accepted all of this, but she still made no move to enter the room.

"Alexis, I know it's going to be weird going in there, but he's still your father. He's the same man you've always known, except he pictures you being seventeen, which will be hard on him when he learns-"

Alexis cut her off. "He doesn't know?"

Kate smiled. "I haven't told him a thing. I left that all for you."

Alexis took a deep breath. "Here goes nothing."

Kate gave her hand a reassuring squeeze.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

Richard had been flipping through his phone that Kate had brought him yesterday, trying to decode everything on it. Thank god he had used the same passcode as he always used. He didn't recognize a lot of his contacts. Most of the apps were completely unknown and useless to him. He then noticed the Gallery app and decided that photos might help jog his memory.

As soon as he had opened the photo gallery, he heard his door open and immediately looked up to see Alexis, his little girl standing before him, in all of her beauty. He gasped as he took in her appearance. She was older, a lot older than he remembered her. She had lost all of her little girl features and replaced them with her women aspects. Luckily, she still had her little dimples.

But what took him most off guard was the bulging stomach that he knew all to well housed a baby.

Alexis knew that this was going to be how it played out, but when she saw her father, and his reaction when he noticed her stomach, she couldn't help but giggle.

"I'm eight months," was the first words she'd uttered since entering the room. "Surprise!" she added with a small laugh

Her father quickly tore his glance from belly and looked her in the eye, letting out a small chuckle too. "Wow... I..."

She took a seat beside her father and grabbed his hand in hers. "Dad...I..."

Rick shook his head. "I know, you're 24 and this is normal, but last time I remember seeing you, you were still in high school... It's just..."

Alexis nodded and smiled. "Here, let me start from the beginning, okay?"

Rick nodded, wanting nothing more.

"After the shooting, I basically took care of you for months while you weeped over Kate. I could tell you were so in love with her, but she kept hurting you and I couldn't accept that she kept walking away. We had spent so much time together that summer, yet I felt like we were drifting apart. When the end of august came around and I went back to school, you were at least distracted by all of your book signings.

"Then before I knew it, you were back at the precinct with everyone and I saw that smile I hadn't seen in so long. It hurt, knowing that I couldn't bring you that happiness, but I learnt years later that it wasn't all Kate, but simply that everything in your life was how you wanted it to be.

"So, when everything started to go back to normal, I decided to take an internship with Lanie, which you despised in the beginning but eventually got used to. A whole lot happened that year, but I won't go into details. I was valedictorian at my graduation, got drunk that night and was hungover the next day. However, I didn't sleep with anyone, I promise," she said with a laugh. "Actually, if I remember correctly, you're the one who got lucky the night of my graduation." With that she smiled a knowing smile.

"Kate?" he asked, figuring the time line fit.

"Kate," she confirmed. "You only told me the week I moved to University though. I was still worried that she would hurt you but the more time passed, the easier it was to see that she wasn't going to leave you. I was the first person you told that you were planning on proposing," she added with a smile.

"So you and Kate married and gave me beautiful little siblings." At the mention of Zach and Lacy, Richard couldn't help but smile a little more. "All the while, I was off at Columbia studying law."

"Law?"

Alexis nodded. "After having spent almost a year working with Lanie and all of the lovely people at the 12th," she said with a laugh, "I realized that I wanted to be apart of it all, bring justice to those who deserve it. I am currently finishing an internship with DA Yearwood," Richard recognized the name, knowing she was one of the attorney's defending some of their cases back in the day, "and I've already been offered a position for when I'm off maternity leave."

Richard shook his head in disbelief at how accomplished his daughter had become. He knew she would accomplish great things, but hearing her telling him all of this made him the proudest dad in the world. "I'm so proud of you Alexis. I just... Wow, that's incredible!"

She laughed. "So you've told me, about a million times before."

He nodded with a smirk, knowing that sounded just like him. "I'm glad to know that that part of me hasn't changed in the past seven years."

Alexis smiled as she thought about. "Honestly dad, you haven't really changed all that much in general. As you, I mean... I mean, I know that Kate has done wonders on turning you into a better man. You're clearly not waltzing around with bimbos on your arm all the time-"

Rick cut her off. "Hey! That's not fair! You know that that was mostly-"

It was her turn to cut him off. "I know, publicity and all, but you don't even _look_ at other women since you and Kate first started going out. You only have eyes for her and it's quite the sight to see. So very loving and sweet."

Rick smiled at the dreamy expression on her face.

"But other than that, your personality is quite the same. Crazy theories, corny jokes, the best dad in the world," she finished with the strong point, knowing it would give him an ego boost. "You're flaws are just as perfect as they've always been too."

"Flaws? I don't have any flaws!" he exclaimed in mock hurt.

Alexis gave him that look, the one she had perfected at the age of seven. To see something so familiar in the girl warmed his heart, even if she was giving him the look.

"Name one."

Alexis laughed. "Easy. You're overprotectiveness."

He knew that was true, but he tried arguing his way out anyway. "That's not-"

"Really dad? Just a few weeks ago, when you took Lacy to the park, you caught her holding hands with a little boy and you practically asked him what his intentions with your daughter were. He was three!"

He laughed. "Yeah that sounds like me. But what I was going to say is that being overprotective isn't really a flaw..."

Alexis smiled. "And that's why I said your flaws were perfect."

"So..." he started, a look in his eye saying that he was up to no good, "who's the baby daddy?"

Alexis smirked. Legit question she thought. "Jacob Lancaster-Howard," she said with a twinkle in her eye.

Castle's jaw nearly hit the ground. "As in, son of Congressman Thomas Howard and Julianna Lancaster, New York Times Bestseller and -"

"The first person who ever believed in you as a writer?" she finished for her father. "Yeah, that Jacob Lancaster-Howard. I've got to say, the shock on your face is about as priceless as it was the first time I brought him home to have him dad approved."

Richard had tears in his eyes. "Alexis, you two... I still remember, you were three and he was six and he held your hand everywhere we went. Julianna and I had been such good friends... When Tom had gotten that position in Seattle, you asked about Jake for months... Who knew a three year old could be so heartbroken."

"They visited that once when I was about eight, and Jake thought girls were gross. Ever since then, Julianna visited alone and the boys always stayed back."

Richard nodded as his daughter brought a wave of memories back. "I swear, she was the only woman I had never even thought about sleeping with. She was like my big sister."

"Still is," Alexis said with a laugh. "She still knows how to put you in your place."

"I can just imagine," Richard said with a smirk. "So, how did that happen?"

"Three years ago, he was accepted to do an internship at New York Presbyterian. As he hadn't lived in New York since he was six, he decided to spend the summer before his internship in the city, just to get used to it all. He ended up working spending his summer as an assistant medical examiner. With Lanie."

Richard couldn't help but laugh as he knew what the woman was capable of when it came to relationships. Other people's relationships, of course.

"I had gone in to visit her, something that became somewhat of a weekly thing between us while I was home during the summer, ever since my internship with her, and that's when we ran into each other. We clearly hadn't made the connection at first, but when Lanie introduced us, he broke out into a huge grin and the first thing out of his mouth had been, 'if I had of realized the girl of my dreams was going to grow into such a beautiful woman, I never would have let my parents drag me away from her and across the country.' I had figured out who he was -the name Lancaster-Howard kind of gave it away - but the look on Lanie's face was priceless. She thought she was going to be playing matchmaker. Little did she know, it was well out of her control.

"We dated a year before he proposed. He asked you for my hand in marriage and I've been told you nearly cried. You had had no problem accepting him in my life, considering our history and we got married just a year ago. We now live about an hour out of the city, between his workplace as a resident in a small hospital about an hour in the other direction and mine here in the city. We're at the loft though at least once a week for family suppers."

Richard had tears in his eyes. "My baby girl is all grown up..."

"Oh dad," she said as she reached over to give him a bear hug, "I'll always be your baby girl! Even with my own baby girl on the way." She added with a smirk.

"A girl?" Richard asked, excitement clear in his voice.

Alexis nodded. "Your going to have a grand-daughter!"

Her father brought her in for another hug, before he pulled away and looked his daughter straight in the eye. "I'm still young and hip, even if I'm going to be a grand-father, right?"

Alexis laughed. "Of course dad."

**Enjoy ! (:**


	6. Six Heat Hits

**I just wanted to thank everyone for the great reviews (: I know a lot of you thought the whole memory loss plot was overdone, but I'm glad you kept reading and that most of you have had a change of heart. Enjoy !**

Alexis had left a little after four, leaving her father to his thoughts for nearly an hour. Everything that he had learnt in the past two days was enough information for a decade.

_More like seven years,_ he thought to himself.

He was married to Kate Beckett. They had two kids together. His daughter was almost a lawyer. She had married her toddler crush. She was going to have a baby girl. He was going to be a grandfather.

Wow. That was a lot to take in, and he was certain there was more to come.

He couldn't believe what a lucky man he was. His life had turned out pretty damned good for a kid with a single mom who had spent her life on the road. Even as he had grown up, knocked up Meredith and married out of a sense of obligation, got a divorce, married Gina for... He couldn't really remember, got a divorce... He didn't think life would give him a third chance at making things right. He hadn't believed in true love until Kate Beckett had completely stolen his heart. It was nothing like he had ever felt before.

He loved Alexis, of course, and even his mother but the feelings for Beckett were something else, something that he never thought were actually realistic. Butterflies included, he had been smitten from day one. The three years they had spent together made him realize that there was something different between loving someone and being in love with someone. Kate Beckett was the first person he had ever been in love with.

And now, in the blink of an eye, he was the man that she too loved and cherished and he didn't know how the hell they had really gotten there, even though she had tried to quickly debrief him. But he was determined to remember everything so that he could relish in all the moments of joy his life had brought him until now.

His thoughts were interrupted by a knocking and Dr Abbot poked his head through the door. "Ah Mr Castle, I was hoping you'd be alone."

Richard smiled as the doctor entered the room. "Doc! I wish I could say I was hoping it was you knocking at my door but I hope your not insulted when I say my wife was my first choice."

The doctor laughed. "Not at all. As long as I was in your top five."

Castle counted in his head. "Well, if I put you ahead of my mother..."

Both men laughed a little more. "I must say, I am surprised Det. Beckett isn't at your bedside. She rarely left during the period that you were unconscious."

"My daughter Alexis was in to visit for the afternoon so Kate went home to check on the kids. She told me she'd be back in time for supper, so she could be here any minute now."

Abbot nodded. "I'm glad she hasn't wasted any time in getting you up to speed on everything," he said, referring to the mention of their kids. "The faster you're up to speed, the easier it'll be to remember things on your own. How are you holding up with all of it?"

Richard thought about it. "I... It's kind of weird, but for the most part, it's been okay. I'm just frustrated that I picked these seven years to forget. Why not, I don't know, a boring chunk of my life rather than what's probably been the best years of my life? Other than the year my oldest was born of course."

The doctor nodded, understanding his dilemma. "The way I look at it, at least you remember Det. Beckett. We have a lot of memory loss patients who don't even know their spouses. Could you imagine learning everything your learning and not remembering the woman you're married to?"

Richard nodded. "The thought has crossed my mind, and I am forever thankful that Kate is not only part of my memory that I have kept, but that my feelings for her are defined in my memories. It's easy to accept everything because it's what I had dreamed of the months leading up to the shooting. But... It's still really hard..."

The doctor nodded, not knowing what to really say to comfort him.

"Got any kids doc?"

Abbot nodded. "Three sons."

"Imagine waking up tomorrow and not knowing who they were. I'm not trying to bring you down and make you pity me or something, just think about it."

The doctor nodded. "I have thought about it and all I can say is that I wouldn't be as strong as you are, given the circumstances."

He gave the doctor a sad smile. "I try. Anyway, enough about my miseries, I'm sure you didn't come to chat."

Dr Abbot got up from the seat he had taken. "It was actually part of the reason. Assessing your mental state. You seem to be doing extraordinarily well and now, onto the more fun part. What do you say we get you on your feet?"

Richard smiled brightly. "I think you've definitely just granted yourself that spot in my top five there Doc."

The doctor laughed as he pulled out the bar to allow his patient to pull himself from his bed.

"Slowly, there's no rush."

For once, Richard Castle did as he was told and before he knew it, he was taking shaky steps around the room with his doctors help.

"Ah look who's decided to get his lazy ass out of bed."

Both patient and doctor turned to face the newest arrival, smirk on her face.

"Kate!" Rick exclaimed excitedly. "Look!"

She laughed. "Your first steps, Richard. I'm so proud."

Everyone let out a small laugh as Dr Abbott helped Rick settle back down into his bed. "I think that's enough for today. I'll leave you two alone," he added with a smile.

"Thanks Doc! Come back anytime!"

Kate laughed as the doctor gave them one more wave before heading out the door, closing it behind him. "Looks like you made new friends while I was gone."

He laughed and was about to make a comment when he noticed she was carrying a bag that looked to be too big for a purse. "What did ya bring me?" he pointed to the duffel.

"Always as curious as can be," she said as she took a seat on the bed and set the bag beside her. She opened it and started pulling a few things out. "Well, for starters, some clean clothes. As much as you are adorable in that gown, I figured you might be more comfortable in your own sweats and t-shirts." She set the clothes aside as she pulled out more stuff. "Zach and Lacy decided to make some get well soon cards this afternoon. Well, Zach and Martha did most of the work, but Lacy helped with the scribbles."

Castle laughed as he looked at the cards. "They're definitely artists. I wonder where they get that from?"

"Mom claims she has an impact on that one. Something about the arts being such a large variety of expressions that our children have simply discovered their artistic talents in a different form than her own."

Castle shook his head with a smile painted on his lips. "The way you say 'our children'... Do you know what that does to me?"

Kate brought her hand to his check as she leaned in for a quick kiss. "Our children are the most blessed gift I have ever received."

Castle couldn't help but tear up a little bit. Before he got too emotional, he turned back towards the bad. "What else have you got?"

Knowing he needed the distraction, she turned back towards the bag and pulled out a few more things. Castle had no trouble distinguishing the picture frames.

"A few little things to decorate your room."

He took them from her and smiled.

The first one was of Zach and Lacy, looking very recent. They were sitting on the couch, fast asleep. The one right beside it was the same picture almost, but with Alexis falling asleep beside them.

The next was a family photo. The five of them, along with Martha and Jim, outside in the snow, all attention on the camera . The kids looked younger in this one, but not too young.

The next collage picture was of Zach, moments after his birth, his hand print, Lacy moments after her birth, her hand print and Alexis, moments after her birth and her hand print. The emotions that just moments before, Rick had tried to avoid, were now getting the best of him.

The next one caught him of guard. He was getting used to the pictures of the kids that when he saw the picture of him, Kevin and Javier, he was a little taken aback. Both men looked older, but were still the same men he fondly remembered.

"They want to come visit tomorrow, if you're up to it."

Castle nodded, not trusting his voice at the very moment.

He flipped to the last picture frame and the final straw in the emotional wave caught up with him. Wedding pictures. The first one of him and his three favorite woman. The next one of him, Kate, the boys and Lanie on the dance floor. One of him and his bride, their faces covered in cake. One of the two of them on the beach, Kate in his arms, her dress blowing in the wind. However, the last one, right in the middle of the four others, was what finally caused the tears to release. They were on the alter, holding hands and starring into each others eyes, the love clearly written on their faces and they were as alone in their little bubble as any two people in front of a crowd could be.

"It's my favorite too," she said as she rested her hand atop of hers on the middle picture.

"Thank you," he whispered. "For bringing these."

She smiled softly as she took the pictures from his hands and set them aside, planning on scattering them throughout the room when they were done.

"There's more," she said with a smile, turning back to the bag. "I thought that if you get bored and no one's around, you might enjoy a good read."

She placed a book, _Frozen Heat,_ in his hands and before even reading his name on the cover page, he knew it was his by the title. "The fourth installment in the Nikki Heat series," she said, even though she figured he had already guessed that. "I've also got the 5th, the 6th and what you've written of the 7th on your laptop."

He seemed shocked. "But I thought..."

"Once _Frozen Heat_ made it to number one, they knew they couldn't just let you stop. They signed you on for three more, let you take a few years to be super dad all while asking you to keep writing. All six books have been major hits. You would have more than just the 7th if it weren't for the fact that after they released Heat Wave the movie, they wanted to continue the series as movies and asked you to write the screenplays. You had help from professionals, but at least it was better context than what they could have possibly written without you. We have Heat Wave, Naked Heat and Heat Rises on DVD at home. Heat Rises is set to release in theaters next month, but clearly they gave you an advanced copy. You can watch them while you recover."

Richard flipped the books around in his hand. "I knew Nikki Heat would make it somewhere, but I never thought it would become this big."

Kate laughed. "Oh, it's big alright. They have Nikki Heat and Jameson Rook action figures Rick. Action figures."

"Action figures?!" he exclaimed, as excited as a kid on Christmas morning.

"Action figures," she confirmed. "Anyway, you have some reading to hold you down for a little while at least. And think about it. How many authors can read their own books without knowing what's going to happen next?"

She saw the excitement in his eyes as he thought about the concept. "Honestly, I'm probably going to be the first. Take that Patterson!"

Kate shook her head as she giggled. "So how was your afternoon with Alexis?" She set the now empty bag down on the floor next to the bed and settled herself, lying next to him and his arms immediately found their way around her, resting on her lower back.

"It was good." He smiled brightly. "Great actually. She's so grown up, I can't get over it. And pregnant! My baby girl is having a baby girl!"

Kate laughed lightly at the excitement in her husbands voice, but nodded all the same. "She's quite the woman Rick. How did that happen with a role model like you?"

He rolled his eyes at her but couldn't help but chuckle a bit. "Clearly you can't think I'm that bad of an influence on my offspring if you were willing to have more beautiful children with me," he commented, leaning in for a kiss.

He took this one slowly, wanting to relish in the moment. There was passion, tenderness and most of all a love that couldn't compare to anything he had ever felt in a simple kiss. It pushed them a little further, heating the simple kiss to a full blown make out.

When they finally pulled apart from the kiss to catch their breath, Castle couldn't help but gasp out a small "wow" to which Kate returned with a wink.

"Just like horny teenagers," Kate said with a giggle.

Castle's eyes shone with a light that had only ever been present in his eyes when Kate was implicated. "It's things like that that remind me why I fell so madly in love with you in the first place."

They just stared at each other, smiling and relished in the feeling of being together.

"I have a really serious question for you," he suddenly said, sitting up a little straighter.

Kate was slightly worried. _What had brought this on?_ "Rick, what ever you need, I'm here for you..."

He nodded before he turned and looked at her. "I just... I just keep thinking about me becoming a grandfather and I can't help thinking to myself, am I really that old?"

Kate stared at him in shock, and Castle couldn't help but chuckle at her expression. "Come on Kate! That's about as serious as the questions get!"

She shook herself out of her state of shock and couldn't help but join in on the laughter. "Oh Richard..." she said his full name for emphasis. "You're not old, I promise. Simply maturing. As if that was possible."

They both laughed a little bit more before he went back to being a little more serious. "I mean, I am forty... seven?"

"Forty six," she corrected.

He nodded. "I'm forty six, and I fear that I'm not the young spirited man I remember myself to be."

Kate smiled. "You're still the same Castle that walked into my life ten years ago, if that's what you want to know. Childish, immature at times, but caring and completely full of imagination. You can keep up with the kids, so that's enough to prove you're not all that old Rick."

He nodded, accepting this. He then looked back at her, hesitantly before asking, "and... everything... everything still works... the way it should?"

Kate couldn't help but giggle at the uncomfortable look on his face. She brought her face as close to his as she could without actually having them touch. "You're forty six Castle. You don't even qualify for senior deals. Men in their eighty's still have perfectly functioning body parts. Trust me, everything still works."

He looked at her with fake skepticism, suddenly liking the direction their conversation was taking. "Trust you, huh? What's to say that you're not just telling me this to not steal me of my pride?"

Kate shook her head. "You know perfectly well that any opportunity I could get to knock you a little bit further off that high pedestal of yours, I would take. Besides, I can easily prove it."

Castle seemed curious. "Yeah?"

She nodded, a huge smile building on her face.

He went wide eyed when she slipped her hand between their bodies, but was shocked when she simply reached into her front pocket, rather than somewhere else.

She pulled out a small piece of paper, unfolded it and handed it to him.

"What's this?" he asked, without having given it a look yet.

"You're proof," she simply replied, the smile on her lips just getting bigger.

He looked down at the piece of paper and took a few minutes to piece things together. When he did, he looked back up to her, surprise in his eyes.

"Kate... This can't be... Is it..."

"Check the date on it Rick."

The ultrasound dated two weeks exactly from the current date.

"You had been in the hospital two days when Mom told me she had figured it out. I had known for a couple of days, but she forced me to go see a doctor. That's when I got that done." She shook her head. "This isn't exactly how I had initially planned on telling you but-"

He cut her off. "You mean, this is the first I'm hearing about this?"

She nodded. "I found out the day of the accident. I was planning on telling you that night, but..." She trailed off, knowing he would understand.

He smiled the greatest smile she had seen yet. "We're having a baby Kate!"

She giggled. "We are!"

"We're having a baby and I'll be able to remember it all, from beginning to end. Kate, as much as I love Zach and Lacy already, I'm so glad that we're having another baby because I want to be able to live all of this with you and remember it."

Kate gave him a sad look. "Rick, don't say that. You're going to get your memory back."

He gave her a sad smile. "Kate, you know I would do anything to remember these past seven years. God, I would do anything at all, but I have to start accepting that it might never happen."

She shook her head, not wanting to believe him. "I'll find a way Rick, I'm going to make sure you remember everything."

"Kate..."

She looked him in the eye, resting her hand on his cheek. "Do you trust me Rick?"

He nodded. "God Kate, I trust you with my life."

She blinked, the building condensation now evident in her eyes. She whispered, "then trust me when I say I'm going to find a way," before pulling herself in as close to him as possible and not letting go, until both of them found the sleep they much needed after all the emotions the past few days had brought.


	7. Three amigos

"And that's me and Lacy with Uncle Kevin and Uncle Javi."

Castle smiled as he played with his sons hair, all while flipping through the photo albums the kids had brought along with the visit. They had spent a good part of the morning simply recounting everyday stories from the past four years, the ones that had gone with the pictures the kids had wanted to show.

"Who's that?" Rick asked, pointing to the medium sized labradoodle licking his sons face.

"That's Storm, our dog!" Zach answered excitedly. He was really taking this helping daddy remember everything seriously and every opportunity he got to explain something new, he was even more excited than the time before. "He's the best dog in the whole wide world! He catches, and chases his tail and loves to swim and you let him sleep on my bed!"

Kate laughed. "Nice try buddy. Just because daddy doesn't remember the rules, doesn't mean I don't."

Zach sighed. "Okay, so he's not allowed to sleep on my bed, but he does everything else!"

"We have a dog," he stated, taking the new information. "A dog named Storm," he added with chuckle. "What an original name."

Alexis giggled. "It was actually a coincidence. Kate had sent you on one of your many late night craving combatting corner store runs during her pregnancy with Zach when you found this little puppy in a box in someone's bush. It was the middle of a thunderstorm and you couldn't bare the thought of leaving him alone outside where no one seemed to care about him. So, being the big hearted teddy bear that you are, you brought him home and convinced Kate to let you keep him."

"It helped that you had brought me exactly what I had been craving, so I was very easy to convince," Kate added with a laugh.

"The name Storm was just perfect," Martha finished. "He was found in a storm and Storm was a name you had held dear to your heart for so long, all of us decided really that it went without being discussed."

Richard smiled as they continued to flip through the book.

"Where's this house that most of the pictures seem to be taken at?" he asked, when he noticed that a good chunk of the pictures weren't in a building he recognized. He had considered the house in Hampton's at several occasions, but he suddenly doubted himself.

"That's our house silly!" Zach answered with a laugh. Richard couldn't help but laugh as he noticed his attempt at an eye roll, one that was definitely a trait he had adopted from his mother.

Rick looked to his wife, knowing she would explain, as she had every other new piece of information. "When we found out about Lacy, we made the decision that the loft was too small for all of us, especially on the occasions where Alexis was home. Our house is just outside the city, allowing me to still get into work fairly easily and it's easy for you and the kids to visit the city whenever."

Castle was confused. "But everyone still talks about the loft..."

Kate nodded. "You didn't want to give up the loft so Martha here is now your tenant."

"For her to qualify as a tenant, that must mean she pays rent," Rick said with a laugh.

"I do, thank you very much."

Rick stopped laughing, shock on his face.

"I pay you by babysitting whenever you need it and by hosting most family events. On nights where the travelling isn't ideal, I also host all of you in my humble abode."

"That sounds more like the type of rent I figured you paid," he said a smile on his face. "Well I'm glad everyone has somewhere to call home, as well as many others to call their homes away from home. I guess after everything you've done for me mother, it's only clear that you deserve such an understanding landlord."

Everyone laughed in agreement.

"Lunchtime?" Lacy suddenly asked from her mother's knee.

Rick checked his watch, realizing it was in fact nearing noon and nodded in agreement. "Let me just page a nurse to help me into a wheelchair so we can head down to the cafeteria. I need to get out of this room for a little bit."

Once he was settled, the six of them headed towards the elevator. Alexis's phone suddenly chirped, indicating an incoming text and she smiled. "Jake got off work early and was wondering if you were up for an extra visitor."

Rick smiled. "Of course pumpkin. Besides, I need to make sure for myself that he's the right man for you."

Alexis laughed. "You walked me down the aisle dad. There's no going back now."

The kids and Martha had gotten off the elevator and were ahead of them. Rick suddenly got Kate to stop pushing him and he looked up into Alexis's eyes. Alexis saw right away that something wasn't right.

"Dad? Are you okay? Are you hurting?"

"Do you want me to get a nurse?" Kate added.

He shook his head. Tears started building in his eyes. "I... I don't remember walking my baby girl down the aisle... What kind of father..."

Alexis knelt down to his level and pulled him into a tight embrace. "Daddy..."

Kate rested her hands on his shoulders. "Rick, we're going to do everything we can so that you remember."

He shook his head. "The doctor said that things would come back little by little as you guys talked about them. I... I still don't remember a single thing, not even a glimpse or a dream... I can't..." He brought one of his hands up to his face and wiped the tears angrily. "God... I can't..."

Alexis took his hands in hers and squeezed them tight. "Dad, you're here with us, and you're yourself and that's what counts. We... When Kate called me after you were brought in by ambulance, there was a chance you didn't make it all. Do you know how terrifying that was? I... Jake had to deal with a sobbing Alexis until grams called and told me you were awake. Do you know how utterly relieved and happy I was that I would get to see you again? So what? You don't remember a few things. You're still my dad and you're okay and that's what matters."

He nodded quietly, the tears building up again. Alexis leaned in and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek before wiping his tears again.

"I love you dad."

He finally let a small smile spill out onto his lips. "Me too Alexis. I love you too."

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

"Rick, it's good to see you again!"

Castle had a hard time containing the smile when Jake, whom he remembered as being 11, walked into the cafeteria. He greeted him with a friendly smile and a handshake, and then leaned into Alexis for a kiss. As much as Rick had come to terms with the fact that his daughter was all grown up and had accepted that she was starting her own family, he had trouble watching the intimate exchange.

Alexis noticed her father cringe and laughed. "It's okay dad. We'll keep the PDA's to a low in front of you."

Rick laughed. "I appreciate the gesture."

Jake took a seat between his wife and Martha. "Oh Richard, the man is allowed to kiss his wife in public as much as your allowed to kiss Kate here. Let the poor youngster be."

"I'm still wrapping my around all of this Mother. Alexis is still 17 in my mind."

Jake intercepted. "And I am completely alright with it. No worries Martha."

She shook her head and looked at Alexis who smiled and nodded. "It's the least we can do to help."

"Thank you pumpkin," he said as he reached around Zach and gave his daughter a shoulder squeeze.

"Anytime dad."

Rick turned back towards Jake. "A doctor, huh? Not what I had imagined from the eleven year old troublemaker I remember."

Jake laughed. "A lot had changed in the past 16 years. I definitely grew up, found better hobbies than making people miserable and decided girls weren't so bad after all. A lot can happen in sixteen years."

Rick nodded and smiled. "How are your parents?"

Jake smiled in return. "Good. They're actually living in the Hampton's most of the time so we spend a lot of time with them, them being so close. Dad still has to travel to Seattle once in a while, but his glory days are behind him and he simply enjoys the luxury of being mostly retired. Mom's still writing a bit, but she's mostly teaching courses at Columbia and through multiple other universities. She enjoys it, helping the next generation of writers. Hoping she'll find a star in one of them."

"Well she found me, isn't that enough?" Castle said with a laugh.

"He said a star, not an arrogant, hard headed-"

Rick cut off his mother, who simply laughed. "Okay, I get it mother."

"They want to come in and visit when you're feeling up to it," Jake continued.

Rick nodded and smiled. "I can't wait."

"If it isn't Richard Castle, the man of the hour!"

All heads turned at the voices and Castle couldn't help but smile at the crew coming his way.

"Wow," he said as he took it all in. "You guys have been busy these past few years."

Kevin and Jenny laughed as they each came over to give Castle a quick hug. Three kids followed behind them, the oldest looking to be about 5 years old. Jenny also had a tiny infant cradled in her arm.

"We should probably do the introductions, shouldn't we?"

Castle nodded as he watched Kevin's beaming face when he looked down to his children.

"I'm Lucas!" the oldest one said, beating his father to the chase. "Daddy says you don't remember anything, but I'm Zach's best friend."

At this point, Zach has jumped down from his seat and had joined the young boy. Jake got up, volunteering to take them outside for a bit, since both of them seemed on the verge of bursting with energy.

"These two are our twins, Kolbe and Kaylee," Jenny introduced them. "They just turned three and have decided all of a sudden that they're shy."

"And last but not least," Kevin said as Jenny passed him the baby in order to kneel down and talk to the twins, "this is Ben, the baby of the family. He's four months."

Richard smiled as he took in the family in front of him. "Wow, time has really flown by."

Kate gave his shoulders a squeeze.

"So how are you feeling?" Kevin asked as he took the seat that Zach had just vacated.

"Not too bad," he replied. "You should see the other guy," he said with a small laugh. Then he stopped. "Wait, what happened to the other guy?"

The table went quiet.

Kate was the one to break the silence. "How about we talk about that a little later?"

Richard nodded, but the mood in the room had become uncomfortable. He knew that this wasn't a good sign, but decided he'd find out later.

Once Jake and the boys had returned, Alexis and Martha decided they'd head out and get the kids back to the loft for a nap.

"Can Lucas come over?" Zach asked excitedly.

"Zach honey, not today, okay? Your Grams doesn't need -"

Martha cut Kate off. "Nonsense. I'd love to have a few more bright spirited companions to keep me company. As long as everyone else is okay with it, I would be absolutely thrilled."

She sent a quick smile to her daughter-in-law and Kate mouthed a quick 'thank you'. Jenny and Kevin agreed to pick up the young boy after supper, and after a lot of convincing, Martha, Alexis and Jake ended up leaving with not three children, but five."

"Your mother is quite the woman," Jenny said with a laugh.

"And Alexis seems to have taken on most of her qualities," Kevin added.

"She is at her best when she's got Zach and Lacy to distract her," Kate explained. "Their youthful innocence makes her forget about everything that's bothering her. She may try to convince you by using the ever so popular line 'you need a break, and I'm glad to be of assistance,' but I think it's as much for her benefit than it is for ours."

They all nodded in agreement.

"We should get her and our parents together for a coffee or something," Jenny suggested. "They could compare notes."

Everyone laughed, but agreed it wasn't a half bad idea. Jenny soon excused herself, wanting to get Ben home for his own nap.

Once she had disappeared, Richard, Kate and Kevin made their way back up to Richard's room where he was settled back into his bed in no time.

They were quiet for a few moments, all knowing what was on the other's mind, but no one seemed to know how to approach it.

Finally, Richard couldn't take it anymore and just blurt it out. "Just tell me what happened to the other guy."

Kate and Kevin both looked at each other. Kate finally decided he deserved to knowing the truth. "Richard, the guy who struck you was drunk. Not completely drunk, but on the legal limit drunk and he was a tiny guy so... He was drunk."

"We tried to get the charges to hold, and they would have held considering the damage he had done..." Kevin started explaining.

"But he's the son of an important figure whom we aren't even allowed to mention, which tossed the whole thing aside." Kate took his hand in hers and squeezed tight.

"The media has been all over this Richard. You've become extremely famous in the last couple of years, even more famous than before, and they are trying to dig to find out who the other guy was, but even they are incapable of ever finding out. That's how big this is."

"There is actually currently security at every door of the hospital, making sure that no press gets any access, and then more of them at each end of this wing."

Richard took all of this in, not fully able to comprehend.

He took a deep breathe. "So the guy who did this to me, he got away scotch free because his daddy is some sort of extremely important person?"

Kate nodded sadly. "The boys tried everything they could Rick... It's much bigger than anything anyone can handle."

Richard nodded. "Okay..." he said, surprisingly making peace with it already. "I..." he turns to Kevin. "Thank you, for trying."

Kevin gives him a supportive smile.

"So am I really that famous?"

Both Kate and Kevin couldn't help but chuckle, even in these circumstances, at the grin on Richard's face. He was like a child on Christmas, finding exactly what he had wanted under the tree.

Kate smirked. "Yes you are. Which drives me absolutely nuts, but hey, love conquers all."

Richard chuckled. "So how famous are we talking here?"

"You've upped Nicholas Sparks and Stephanie Meyer on the 21st century best authors list, and dare I say it, you're even higher up than James Patterson."

"No!" he said, in surprise. "Jamie must hate me!"

Kate laughed. "He still comes to your poker games. Let's say it's become a friendly battle between the two of you. He handles it alright."

"You're also in the New York's top ten hottest men of 2016," Kevin said with a laugh as Kate rolled her eyes. "Let's just say Kate here had a bit of jealousy streak."

"Luckily, she seems to have the most faithful husband in the world and he is absolutely madly in love with her, and even with all the woman chasing after him, he had absolutely no trouble ignoring them since he had only eyes for his Kate," said a female voice .

They all looked up towards the doorway at their arrived guest.

"Lanie!" Richard exclaimed as the ME entered with a smile and immediately came over to his bedside to give him a great big hug. "Look at you!"

Lanie laughed as she did a full 360 spin. "In all my whale-like glory! Ready to burst any day now."

Kevin laughed. "The poor husband. Having to deal with you and all your hormones." This earned him a swat on the arm from both woman present in the room. "Speaking of which -"

Lanie smiled. "He just went to park the car. Should be up any moment now."

Just then, a man that Richard did not recognize walked into the room. "Castle! Good to see you awake man!"

Everyone looked at Richard's expression and kind of laughed.

"Right, I kinda forgot about the seven years of missing info," said the man with a laugh. "I'm Jonah, you're assistant."

Rick looked to the others. "I have an assistant?"

Everyone nodded with a laugh.

"Paula couldn't handle you on her own so we got her an extra pair of hands five Christmases ago," Kate said with a smile.

Castle smirked. "That's awesome!"

Jonah nodded. "Yeah, thanks to Lanie here, I had some connections when the job opened up."

Rick nodded. "So how did you two meet?"

"We went to college together," they answered at the same time. They both laughed.

"And how long have you guys been married?" he continued, thinking nothing of it.

They both stopped completely. "Castle, what are you talking about?"

The writer was confused. "But you said..."

He turned towards Kate and Ryan who had started chuckling, finding the current situation hilarious.

"But she said..."

"Castle! My man!"

He turned back towards the door as Esposito walked in, coming towards him.

"You, I know!" he said with a laugh. "Did you guys coordinate this, all showing up together? First Lanie, then Jonah, now you all within -" he checked his watch, "what? Three minutes?"

Javi laughed. "Well I had just gone to park the car... I came with-"

But it had clicked in Castle's brain. "Shut up! Seriously?"

Everyone laughed but Javi. "Seriously what? I didn't want to make Lanie walk all that distance, not with the baby and all..." He finished with his hand on her belly and she smiled in response. He leaned in and gave her a quick kiss, not able to turn his eyes away.

Castle squealed. "I knew you two would make it! How long? When did you guys get married? Was I the best man?"

"Three years ago," Javi said with a smile. He turned back to Castle. "We got married three years ago. We've been together..."

"...on and off forever," Lanie finished for him.

"And I was the best man!" Kevin exclaimed from his seat.

"You were the ring bearer," Kate said with a wink.

He huffed at his wife's joke, but no one else had heard it.

"Wow," he said as he took in the people in the room. "I can't believe it all. Lanie and Javi. Kate and I... All the kids. It's all crazy."

"Man," Javi said. "I don't know how you can take all this in and still be so cool about it."

Kate looked over to Rick. "He had his moments. He had trouble with accepting I was his wife."

Everyone laughed at that one. "I was shocked," he admitted, "but I definitely couldn't complain."

"We figured that much," Lanie said with a smirk.

"I had trouble when I found out about Zach and Lacy though," he said sombrely. "Not because I didn't want kids, that's for sure, but because I couldn't and still can't remember them."

"We'll help you get your memory back man," Javi said as he gave his guy a pat on the arm. "Whatever it takes."

**I hope you all enjoyed ! And thanks for all the reviews (:**


	8. Nine grandkids

**Hey ! So this is the second last chapter ... Thanks for all the support throughout and I hope you all enjoyed !**

**Keep in mind that this story had been written mid-season 5 and that Paris never happened. You'll all see why soon !**

**Enjoy !**

"Welcome home!"

Rick smiled as he was welcomed at the door by his two youngest. They were very careful, knowing that daddy still had some ouchies, but they were excited all the same. And so was Castle.

"Hey Zach, what do you say you give me a bit of a tour?"

Zach nodded as he clutched his father's hand and started dragging him from room to room.

"He's looking good," Martha said as Kate took a seat at the island in the kitchen, Alexis, Jake and Jim, already seated. Lacy quickly found her way onto her mother's knee after having giving a few little tugs on her pant leg.

"Doc was very impressed with his recovery," Kate agreed. "He was sure it would have been at least a few more days, but was fully comfortable sending him home, given the results."

"Dad's probably glad to be out of there," Alexis said as she took a sip from her tea. "I can't imagine he was very happy, cooped up in his bed."

Kate shook her head. "He was able to get through all of his books in the five days he was there, read what he had of the seventh, but realized he couldn't continue writing because he had absolutely no idea where he was going with the storyline. That was more frustrating for him than not having anything to do at all."

"He's home now, so that should help," Jake concluded.

Everyone kind of gave a small nod.

"So did the Doc say anything about his memory?" Martha asked, not sure she wanted to hear the answer.

Kate sighed. "He said he couldn't in any way tell us what to expect. Every single case is different. He gave me a few suggestions of what we could do, and we've tried a few of the simpler ones, but they haven't really done much. There are some more intense ones, but I haven't talked to anyone about any of it yet. It's pretty extreme."

"You know he would do anything at all to remember though," Jim stated, knowing that this was the thought on everyone's mind.

Everyone nodded as Castle and Zach returned.

"You can show me upstairs a little later bud," Richard said, as everyone noted how tired he looked.

"Okay," Zach replied, not pushing. Kate felt so grateful that they had such an understanding son.

Jim scooped up his grandson and Zach giggled at the attack. Rick had only met Jim a few times in his memory, but noted how happy he looked with both Zach and Lacy. Kate had told him after his first visit to the hospital that Jim had been waiting for grandkids, but wasn't sure, with Kate's career, that he would ever be blessed with them. He had been so excited when they had announced Kate was pregnant with Zach. And again with Lacy. And even Alexis looked up to him like a grandfather now. He had gotten what he had wished for and couldn't be happier.

Rick took a seat next to Kate, and although he felt like he needed to go to sleep, he had a purpose here and wouldn't get to bed without his question being answered.

"So mom," he started, looking directly at her. "I couldn't help but notice the flower arrangement you brought me. I hadn't noticed anything peculiar about it until just this morning but it's been nagging at me ever since." He paused as a smirk built on his lips. "Who's Frederick Hanson?"

Everyone around the table exchanged a few glances as they knew what was bound to happen next. They had all been surprised that Rick had not noticed the shared signature on the gift until now and were prepared for this moment. But even then, they had trouble starting off what was bound to be more than Rick had bargained for when asking the question.

"Frederick, hunny, is my... boyfriend, if you'd like," Martha started.

"No, really," Richard replied in a sarcastic tone that made people smile, even given the circumstances. "I never woulda thunk."

Martha shooed him, and pressed on. "We've been together four years now and -"

Rick cut her off. "Four years? What happened to you?"

She rolled her eyes. "Hey, if you could settle down, then so could I. As I was trying to say, Frederick and I were lovers long ago and it was a mere coincidence that we ran into each other."

"Why haven't I met this mystery man of yours yet mother?" Rick said accusingly, but laced it with humour. It was at this moment that he realizes everyone around him was serious and attentive. Something wasn't right.

Martha took a breath. "He just got back from a trip a few days ago and we figured it was best if we talked to you before we invited him over."

Rick was a little confused. "I... I'm not following."

"Remember how I said we were lovers long ago?"

Richard nodded, not really sure the significance.

All of a sudden, it clicked.

"How long ago?"

"Umm, 46 years ago?" she answered, knowing he had already made the connection.

Rick was shell shocked. "He's... he's my father."

Everyone around him had the automatic response to comfort him but he just shook his head and a smile built on his lips. "I have a dad."

It was everyone else's turn to be shocked. "Rick? Are you alright with this?" Kate asked, placing a hand on his shoulder.

Rick looked over to his wife. "With the amount of bombs dropped on me these past few days, I've gotten good at accepting these kinds of things." He took a deep breath. "I always wondered about my father, even if I pretended I didn't, and just knowing that he's finally in my life brings joy to my heart. That Alexis, and especially Zach and Lacy have a grandfather - two grandfathers -" he corrected himself, "makes me realize it's not worth dwelling over the questions. It's simpler just to accept it."

Kate couldn't help but smile brightly and lean over and kiss him, without any reservation. They got a couple of ews from the kids, and everyone simply laughed.

"So... Am I going to get to meet him?" Rick asked, and Martha could see the excitement on his face.

Martha nodded. "He's planning on coming over for supper."

Rick nodded and got up from his seat. "In that case, I'm going to get a nap in before his arrival. I hate to be a terrible host and all but -"

Everyone sent him off to bed, agreeing it was what he needed. Kate went with him, in order to help him find whatever he needed.

"He took that extremely well," Alexis said, still in shock.

"He had a point though," Jake stated. "He's getting used to hearing all of these crazy things that it wasn't a shock that there was more."

"And it's not like he had much of a negative reaction the first time either," Jim mentioned and everyone agreed.

They all looked up when Kate came back in, a smile on her face. "He's quite the man."

Everyone gave her a questioning look.

"He's convinced his father is an astronaut, or a spy. You know, his theories."

Martha smirked. "Think he'll be disappointed when he finds out the truth?"

Everyone laughed. "Not at all."

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

When Rick woke up, it took him a few seconds to remember where he was. He looked around the unfamiliar room, and remembered Kate pointing out where his things were. He slowly got out of the big bed, and headed towards the closet, pulling on something a little more presentable than sweats and a t-shirt. It felt good to be wearing human clothes again, an everyday outfit.

He was aware of the voices in the next room, laughs and exclamations. He smiled as he pictured his family out there, enjoying the company of each other, enjoying the normalcy of being together. How he wished he didn't have to end it with his need to be reminded of every little thing that he couldn't remember. He was finding it hard to accept that he couldn't remember, but he was also finding it harder that everyone one else had to deal with this. Especially his kids, so young and innocent. And Kate, who stood by his side, not once showing any signs of exasperation or annoyance. He was the luckiest man in the world, at least he knew that.

"Oh Richard!" Martha exclaimed, as she was the first one to notice is emerge from his room. "You must see this!"

He joined Kate in the armchair, as she greeted him with a kiss on the cheek and grabbed his hand in hers, holding it tightly as to reassure him._ Everything is going to be alright_. That's what it felt like she was telling him through the tight squeezes.

He turned toward Zach and Lacy, who were putting on some sort of show. Jokes, he quickly realized. They were telling jokes, all while acting out their craziness.

"Comedians," Rick said, laughing. "My humour with mother's acting. They are definitely my kids."

Kate laughed. "Never have I doubted that."

Just then, there was a knock at the door and everyone knew who it was. It went slightly quiet, the only ones still speaking being the two comedians, never even faltering.

Martha got up from her seat. "I'll get that," she said, rushing towards the door. Rick watched as she opened the door and greeted their guest with a quick kiss, still not able to get a glimpse of the man, hidden behind the door.

And then he saw him.

His father.

"Grampy!"

He watched Zach and Lacy forget what they were doing as the rushed to greet their 'Grampy', much in the same way they had greeted their 'Poppy' - Jim - at the hospital days prior.

"Hey there munchkins," he said as he lifted them one at a time and made them giggle.

Everyone watched the cheerful exchange. The kids hadn't seen their grandfather for a couple of weeks, which they were very much not used to considering they were with their grandparents nearly everyday, and this reunion had captivated the attention of all.

Except one.

"Rick, are you alright?"

Kate watched Rick as he took in the scene in front of him, her full attention on his reactions. She rubbed his back soothingly and still watched intently for a switch in his demeanor. He simply watched in awe as the man in front of him went on catching up with his children, handing them little trinkets he had more than likely collected on his travels.

"That's my dad," Rick said and when Kate saw the smile, she let out a breath she didn't know she was holding. "That's our children's grandfather. He's... Wow."

It was at that moment that father and son's gazes crossed. Frederick quickly turned back to the children, kneeling down to their height and whispering something to them, and they quickly rushed off, up the stairs. He turned back towards Rick, and made his way into the living area where everyone was seated.

"Hello son," he said with a warm smile, putting out his hand.

"Dad," Rick said, tasting the words, before a smile built on his face too. "Wow, I never thought I'd see the day..."

"I never thought I'd see the day again," Frederick said with a small laugh. Rick joined him, realizing it was weird for the people around him to go through the mentions of explaining things over again. He was able to find the humour in it, knowing it made things easier on those who surrounded him.

He sat down in the seat across from Rick's, and Martha quickly joined him.

"So, you're my dad," Rick said out loud, still kind of shocked, but very much pleased with the results. He could see that this man was kind and loving, just by the way he had been with the kids. That reassured him.

"I am," he said. "Although I may not have been much of a father to you while growing up, I promise that it wasn't out of disinterest or because I didn't care. And I've been trying to make up for my absence during your childhood these past few years, even though it'll never be enough."

Rick nodded, wanting to know more. "So, when ... I mean how... Umm..."

Frederick smiled. "Let me start from the beginning, okay?"

Rick nodded.

"First of all, I've heard all about your crazy theories regarding me and I'm glad to announce, once again, that your weren't far off the mark. Actually, you were more often right than wrong about who I was." He watched as Rick's eyes grew wide. "I was a CIA agent, new to the team when I met your mother."

"No way!" Rick exclaimed. "You mean, I wasn't crazy all this time?" He didn't give his father a chance to answer. He turned to his mother, then Kate, and back and forth. "I told you guys I wasn't crazy!"

"You're still crazy Castle," Kate said with a laugh, and everyone joined her. "You just happened to be right."

Rick faked his hurt, but Kate quickly washed it away with a kiss.

Frederick continued. "As I was saying, I was new and they had sent me on an undercover operation. When I met Martha, I was nothing more than an accountant for big company, one that we had been investigating. Your mother worked as a secretary and I was smitten from day one." He turned towards Martha and smiled. "Every morning, I passed her and I had to do everything in my power not to do something about the feelings that were growing within me. I knew it was wrong and unjust, to pursue something with someone under false pretenses. The feelings were real, but I couldn't tell her who I really was. It was painful, but I knew it was what I had to do."

"One night, I had been in the office late, and that's when..." He looked around, and everyone nodded, understanding what he meant. "The next thing I know, there are CIA agents arresting everyone, including myself, for being involved in whatever it was the company was involved in. The offices were being raided and the others who also happened to be in the building were escorted out in cuffs. In total that night, the CIA had arrested 87 people who were potentially involved. 54 ended up in prison. The three other undercover CIA agents involved and I were sent to Europe, in order to not be recognized by those who had been involved, but were not arrested. And London became my new home.

"I tried to forget about your mother, but it always nagged me. I left the CIA because it made me miserable and worked in law enforcement. Eventually, as time went by, I was able to dull the ache and move on. I married and had children and life continued. However, 20 years later when I returned to the states for the first time since the operation, I couldn't help but feel this want to find Martha Rodgers. I did it discreetly, since I hadn't wanted my wife to find out. It didn't take me long - considering your mother here was quite well known at that time - and when I discovered she had a then 20 year old son, I couldn't help but wonder. I didn't want to know, because I would hate myself if I knew I had abandoned a son I never knew about. Five years later, I was at a book store when I was compelled by your first novel. I knew the instant I saw your picture on the back of the book that this Richard Castle was my son. I went home right away, to confirm my fears and discovered your true identity. At this point, my children were 20 and 18, headed off to college and university. That same year, my wife passed away from cancer. These events overwhelmed me. That's when I turned to drinking.

"I drank for nearly 15 years, alone in London. My kids started families of their own and I rarely had the opportunity to see my grandkids because my children didn't trust me around them. It broke my heart, but not enough to get me to quit. Finally, I decided enough was enough, moved to New York and started over.

"One of the first things I did was sign up for an AA meetings. Both of my kids and their families lived and still live in New York and I wanted to be there for them and the grandkids. The meetings were really helpful and I had a lot of help," he said as he looked to Jim.

Jim cleared his throat, knowing it was his turn. "That's where it got weird," he said with a laugh. "Freddy and I got close, having both lost our wives while our children were still young and turning to the bottle. So we started meeting up outside of our meetings, getting coffee and whatnot, telling each other stories and getting to know each other. I told him so much about Kate and he told me so much about Samuel and Clara. On a whim, I asked him of he'd like to get together, the five of us, for lunch sometime. He agreed."

"This was about four and a half years ago," Kate continued. "My dad told me about how he was still going to AA meetings and how he wanted me to meet this friend he had made. I agreed, thinking nothing of it. We met at a small diner, and just chatted about everything and anything. Everything was going well until I mentioned my husband."

_"You're father tells me that your expecting," Frederick said, taking a sip of his diet coke. "You and your husband must be thrilled." _

_Kate nodded. "Rick is uncontrollable. I don't think I've ever seen him so excited about anything in his life." _

_Everyone laughed. "In a father's perspective, I can definitely relate," Samuel said. "It doesn't get any better, even with the second and third." _

_Kate looked to the skies. "Lord help me now." She looked back at them as they laughed. "Nah, he's been really great about it, and it helps that he's been through this already. He has a daughter, Alexis, who's an adult now, so he knows what he's doing. He was a single dad for the most part and raised her on his own." _

_"That's quite the man," Frederick said with a shake of the head. "I wouldn't have been able to do it." _

_Kate smiled. "His mother helped him a lot. She had been a single parent too, so she understood his struggles." _

_Clara cut in. "Still, being a single parent must of been hard. What did he do for a living?" _

_Kate smiled. "He lucked out there. He's a writer, so he worked from home. This made it easier on him and Alexis." _

_"A writer huh?" Samuel asked, suddenly intrigued. "Well known?" _

_Jim answered that one. "Well known? Ha! He's a New York Times best seller. One of the most popular in New York." _

_"Dad..." Kate complained. _

_"Don't be modest," Frederick said with a laugh. "It's something to be proud of." _

_Kate rolled her eyes as Jim continued. "Kate here was in love with him before she even met him. She read all of his books. What was that handsome characters name that had you smitten over your writer boy again?" He didn't give Kate a chance to answer before he snapped his fingers. "Derek Storm!" _

_Clara went wide mouthed. "You're... That would make you Nikki Heat! Oh my God, I've read every one of the Nikki Heat books and ... I usually don't get like this over celebrities, but this is..." _

_Kate laughed. "It's alright, I've gotten used to it with the years." _

_Clara shook her head. "I can't believe you're married to Richard Castle!" _

_Frederick nearly chocked on his drink. _

_"Are you alright Dad?" he exclaimed as his father went pale and started breathing heavy. They were about to call an ambulance when he claimed down and looked at his son. _

_"No don't, I'm okay." _

_"What was that about?" Clara asked, still worried about her father. _

_"I..." He turned to Kate. "You mentioned he had a single mother. I..." _

_"Do you know Martha?" Jim asked. _

_Frederick's head hung low as he nodded. "I... I'm Richard's father." _

"We had been utterly shocked when he told us that he was your father," Kate said, remembering it.

"When the shock passed, I told them the story, from beginning until end. My kids were even more shocked. They were able to get passed it pretty quickly and I am forever thankful for this because I don't know what I would have done if I had lost them.

"I promised Kate here that I would find you and Martha that day, because she wasn't gonna be able to keep this from you. So, she gave me Martha's number. It was the first time we had spoken in 42 years. Talk about an awkward conversation. I explained to her what had happened and she told me that it was time for Richard to know the truth, so we met that night for supper, you and I, and Martha and Kate. You took it quite well, all things considering."

"The CIA part helped," Martha said with a laugh.

"And that's how we met," he finished, with a deep breath.

Rick nodded, in awe. "Wow, that's... Wow."

Everyone gave him a few moments to take it all in.

"So I have a brother and a sister?"

Frederick nodded. "And two nephews and four nieces from the ages of 4 to 16."

Richard looked around the room and smiled. "I have so much more than I ever could have dreamed of."

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

Supper went easily and after supper they decided to invite Samuel, Clara and their families over for a little bit. The house became crowded, but I was a good crowded.

"It's great to see you bro," Samuel said as he introduced himself. "We were all real worried about you."

Richard laughed. "So I've heard."

Samuel and his wife Hannah had four kids. Molly, who was 16, Hayley and Jeremy, 14 year old twins and Lily, who was turning 9.

Carla and her husband Tom, who arrived not too much later, had two kids. Tessa, who was 8 and Kyle, who had just turned 4. Him and Zach seemed quite close and this pleased Richard.

"This house wasn't built to hold so many people," Martha said as people crowded in the living room area. The place was full, and people were nearly sitting on top of each other."

Freddy laughed. "I don't care how crowded we are. I'm here with my three kids, my 9 grandkids, my great granddaughter, my best friend and my love. Nothing could ruin that."

"Ten," Kate said at loud.

Everyone looked towards her and she looked to Rick, to make sure it was okay. He smiled and nodded.

"Ten grandchildren," she said with a smile on her face. "Surprise!"

Everyone cheered excitedly and many congratulations were given to the couple. Martha sent them a wink, having known all along and Kate returned it with a smile.

Rick just watched as his family - as big, untraditional and dysfunctional as it may be - had come together and were so full of joy.

_Wow_, _who would have imagined. _


	9. Four-ever

**So, this is the end to the story. Thanks for all the support throughout. Hope you enjoy this little ending to my very first Castle fanfiction! Enjoy!**

It had been three weeks since Rick had been home from the hospital. Three weeks of spending time with his family, of meeting people he couldn't remember and seeing people who had changed so much. Kate taught him some of the ropes again, what his routine was like, where the kids went to daycare, what he usually did in the course of a day. He hadn't picked up the Nikki Heat book again, too discouraged with not being able to remember where he was heading with it to attempt it.

He spent a lot of time with the kids. They were great, explaining everything when he couldn't remember something, showing him where things were, telling him stories just to cheer him up. He loved his life, he just wished he could remember it.

Even after three weeks, not a single memory had come back. He had gone to see the doctor, and even though he said that things like this could take time, it wasn't looking very promising. He realized that things could in fact be worse. He could have lost all memories of his life, not known who anybody was at all. Not knowing Alexis or his mother would have devastate him.

Not knowing Kate would have killed him.

He even could have died in the accident, leaving Kate alone with Zach and Lacy and their unborn baby. Leaving Alexis and his unborn grandchild.

He was lucky that he hadn't lost all that much after all.

But it was still hard.

Him and the kids spent a lot of the time at the precinct. He met Gates a week after he was released, when Kate went back to work. She seemed okay, and everyone had told him that she had gotten better over the years. She was becoming softer as time went on.

Kate had informed her boss and her squad about the pregnancy. The boys and Lanie were over the moon with excitement and even Gates seemed happy for her. They, however, would no longer allow her to go into possibly hostile situations, claiming they wanted what was best for the baby. Rick agreed and Kate finally gave in. She spent a lot of her time in the precinct rather than in the field, at her desk, in front of the murder board or interviewing victims' families and friends.

At her desk is where Rick and the kids found her today. They had made a habit of visiting since Rick couldn't really remember where the kids usually liked to spend their time. Since the precinct was one of them, and he knew how to get there, it became their new go to spot.

"Mommy!"

Kate turned and smiled as she spotted Zach running towards her and hopping into her lap. Lacy clung to her father's hand until the moment they were in front of Kate, then she too tossed herself at her mother. Rick smiled with the greatest joy in his heart. It was amazing to see Kate like this, so motherly and warm. He still wasn't used to it. And knowing that her kids were his kids was the most indescribable feeling in the world. He was so in love. How did he get so lucky?

"Rick?"

Rick looked at Kate and smiled at her concern. "I was just looking at the three of you and thinking about how I am the luckiest man in the world."

She smiled back at him and got up in order to give him a quick kiss. Kissing in the precinct. How many times had he had that exact fantasy? Somehow, this wasn't the same though.

No, it was so much better.

"I swear you guys have come to visit me more these past three weeks than in your entire lifetime!" Kate told the kids with a giggle. They smirked and rolled their eyes, just excited to see their mom. "It's no wonder I've gotten no work done all week!"

"Actually," Ryan said, coming up behind them, "they're not here for you."

Kate looked between Rick and Kevin questioningly. "What are you talking about?"

"Well, you see, Castle here was telling me that today was a special day and how he was looking forward to celebrating - if you know what I mean," he added with a wiggle of his brow, "and Jenny and I volunteered to babysit for the night. Lucas has been dying to have Zach over anyway, so it worked out well. I should be done here, in a few minutes."

Rick nodded as Ryan headed off towards his desk, tying up loose ends before the weekend.

"I, on the other hand, still have about an hour left of paper work left here," Kate said regretfully. "But I will be home around sixish, and then we can celebrate...?" She finished her statement as a question, not exactly sure what they were celebrating.

"I got a call from my doctor today," he started.

"And...?" Kate said, a smile building on her lips.

"I'm in the all clear. I can go back to doing whatever it is I did before the accident, and everything I did before the accident."

"Like your kickboxing," Kate said with a smirk.

"Haha," he said dryly. "You know what I mean," he added with a wink. Then he looked back at Kate, seriously. "Wait, I do kickboxing?"

Kate laughed. "Every Tuesday and Thursday morning after you drop the kids off at daycare. I figured there was no point mentioning it until you could go back to it. But it's up to you."

"Was I any good?"

Kate rolled her eyes. "I've never seen you in action, but you insist you're incredible."

Rick nodded his head. "I'm nothing but."

Kevin came back, jacket on and bag over his shoulder. "You munchkins ready to get out of here?"

They nodded excitedly as they each took one of their uncle Kevin's hands. Rick passed Kevin their little over night bags. "If you have any problems-"

"Nah, bro, we've been doing this way too long," Kevin said with a warm smile. "There will be no problems and I have Martha on speed dial. You guys have a great night," he said with a laugh, heading towards the door. Rick watched them, it being the first time he was spending a night without his kids since he got home from the hospital.

Once they were out of sight, Rick turned back towards Kate. She took in the look on his face right away and got up in order to wrap her arms around his waist. "Oh hun, it's always tough the first time. It gets easier with time."

Rick nodded and laughed. "I had always imagined I'd be the one telling you that."

Kate raised her brow in question. "Always imagined, huh? How long had you been picturing us having kids there Castle? I mean, I know you were in love with me from day one," she said teasingly to which Rick rolled his eyes - a trait he picked up from her - "but I never knew it had gone so deep."

Rick smirked. "Well if I remember correctly, you were the one who wanted to make little Castle babies." Kate rolled her eyes in turn, but it didn't last long. She looked him in the eye, and Rick could see depths to her that shocked him and pleased him all at once. As much as this was the same woman he had spent three years following and falling for, she was a whole new person in so many ways too. Her eyes were so unguarded, her feelings so clear and evident. It made her that much more beautiful.

"Hey Rick?" she said, as she rubbed her husband's back. "You may have lost hope, and don't say you haven't - I can see it in your eyes -". She took a deep breathe. "But I haven't. I still think that you're going to remember. And I won't rest until the day you do."

Rick gave her sad look. "I...thank you for having so much faith, but-"

She cut him off with a kiss, then turned and sat back down at her desk, indicating their discussion was over.

"You can hang around here until six if you would like, but it probably won't be as much fun as you remember. Then again, you could discover the magic of paperwork."

Rick made a face that made Kate laugh.

"No thank you. I'm actually meeting Sam and my dad for a coffee," he said with a smile. He had gotten close to his father and half-brother in the past three weeks and they spent a lot of time together. Kate knew before Rick even spoke what he was going to say next. "We might be a few hours, so you might be home before me."

Kate nodded. "In that case, why don't you call me when you get home and I'll get as much paper work done here in the meantime?"

Rick nodded one last time before leaning in and leaving her with one last kiss. "God, I hope I never get bored of that."

Kate smirked. "You won't," she said with a wink.

"Chinese?" he called out as he headed towards the elevator.

"Sounds good," she called back. She loved how normal that simple statement sounded. She would find his memory. She swore she would.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

"I don't know if the thought of not getting my memory back is getting easier or tougher."

Samuel and Frederick nodded as Rick played with his cup of coffee.

"I can't imagine what your going through right now," Sam confessed. "I wouldn't be able to do it, but you, you've taken it all in and accepted it, at least somewhat accepted it. I would have crawled into a corner and probably nursed a bottle for the rest of my life." He paused, then added. "Sorry Dad."

Freddy nodded. "I know what Sam's saying though. I would have gone back to the bottle too."

Rick sighed. "It's mostly been a front for the people around me. It's killing me, tearing me apart, but I need to be there for Zach and Lacy and Alexis, not to mention Kate. Kate, God, she's been so great with all of this. She hasn't given up on me, not once and I can't even remember our wedding day. I can't remember our first real kiss. I can't remember any of it. I know I loved her, I've loved her for a long time, but I don't know when she first said the words back to me. I don't know when we fell in love with each other. There's only so much someone can tell you. Right now, I'm not remembering things, I'm just remembering people telling me things that happened in my life, and it's not the same."

"Oh Rick," Freddy said. "I didn't know how much this was really getting to you."

"Like I said, I know how to put on an image."

Sam cut in. "Not with us, okay? When it's just the three of us, you tell us what's nagging you, no filter. You need to talk about it to someone and if you don't know who, then we volunteer."

Rick smiled a little. "Thanks Sam."

Sam returned the smile. "Anytime bro."

Rick laughed. "I always wanted a brother. Older, younger, it didn't matter, but actually having one is much better than I imagined. Although I don't know if it would have been the same if we were kids."

Sam laughed. "I know exactly where your coming from. Getting to know you has been absolutely the best, but I don't think I would have been as pleased with you had we have been kids."

"You guys would have been great friends, even as kids," Freddy said. "There's just something about the two of you. I can't put my finger on it."

"I guess we'll never know."

Rick took the last sip of his coffee, and got up from the bench. "Thanks for the evening, but I have to get going."

"Got big plans tonight?" Sam asked, noticing the way he had been checking his watch most of the night.

Rick smiled. "I do. It's the first night Kate and I have alone since the accident and I was cleared by my doctor today so..."

Freddy and Sam both laughed. "Big plans indeed."

Rick smirked. "You could say that."

It wasn't long after that that Rick was sitting in his car, heading towards home. He had been cleared to drive not long after he got out of the hospital. He quickly realized that cabs were a lot tougher with two children and got used to driving the little family car that Kate told him he used. It was sporty, but practical. He still had his old Ferrari for special occasions, but the car got more use. Kate had a van like vehicle, but it had been the van that Rick had been driving when he got in the accident. Kate was using one of the departments vehicles until hers got fixed.

While stuck in some typical Manhattan traffic, Rick pulled out his phone to let Kate know he was on his way. He wondered why she didn't pick up, but didn't think much of it. He figured she was on her way home too and just hadn't heard her phone in her bag or that she was already home and that her phone was in another room. She wasn't on call tonight so she wouldn't worry about calls from work.

The drive was slightly longer than Rick enjoyed, but he figured you got used to it. Tonight, however, it drug on and on. It didn't help that the Chinese food in the back seat smelt absolutely delicious and he was absolutely starving.

He was glad when he saw his street and, before long, his house. There was no car in the driveway, but Kate liked the garage, contrary to him. He found it too crowded and didn't like backing out of it. Since it was a two car garage, and the Ferrari took one space, he let Kate have the other. Or so she convinced him.

"Kate?" he called out as he walked in the front door. There was no answer so he figured he'd try to give her another call.

He walked into the kitchen and put down the Chinese then headed towards the living room, dialling Kate's number. He didn't make it there.

"Hands behind your head!"

He dropped his phone in shock at the voice and felt his heart drop when he looked up and saw a masked man, dressed in all black, with a gun pointed towards him. He did as the man said and rested both hands behind his head.

He had been in similar situations, and he knew he needed to stay calm, but it was harder than it seemed.

"Do you want money?" he asked. "I can get you money. I can give you my Ferrari. You can take whatever you -"

The masked man cut him off. "I don't want money damn it! I want you dead!"

Richard nodded slowly, and gulped. "Okay, okay. You want me dead. Why?"

"Shut up!" The man yelled as he brought the gun closer the his face. "Shut up and get down on your knees!"

He did as he was told, as to not further anger the man wielding the gun. He had no idea who this man was or what he had done to make him this angry, but then again, he didn't know a lot of things.

Then a thought hit him.

Kate.

"Where's my wife? Is she here?"

The man gave him a laugh, one that had no humour to it whatsoever. " Det. Beckett will get what's coming to her."

"Don't touch her!" Richard yelled. "Shoot me if you want, but leave Kate out of whatever this is! We... we have kids, a family. Don't-"

"Shut up!"

Richard nearly started to sob. It was one of those ironic moments. Survives a major car accident and a coma, only to be shot to death not a month later. What were the chances?

The man brought the gun to rest against the back of his head, so that he could no longer see him. "So any last words M. Castle?"

Richard closed his eyes. And as he did this, he was hit with images and images, things he couldn't believe he was seeing.

_"So, you're on board with this, right? It's not some 'Oh, I quit my job, I almost died, I'm in crisis' thing?"_

_"Uh, no. Not for me." _

_"Okay, me neither."_

_"Daddy fall 'gain!"_

_"Daddy's funny when he's being silly, isn't he Zach?" _

_"Daddy still be funny with baby?" _

_"Daddy will always be funny, I promise."_

_"Dad you promised you'd be good."_

_"Alexis, when am I not good?" _

_"I really like this guy, and I think he could be the one." _

_"Woah, it's too early to be thinking about the one." _

_"Dad... I promise that you'll like him." _

_"Doubt it."_

_"Okay Kate, I'm going to need you to push." _

_"I'm not ready! Rick, I'm not ready!" _

_"You're ready hun, you can do this, I believe in you. It won't be long, and we'll be holding our baby boy and you'll forget all about this." _

_"I can't believe we're going to be parents." _

_"I can't believe I'm having a baby with Kate Beckett. What happened?"_

_"Rick." _

_"Yeah, Kate?" _

_"I love you."_

_"I can't believe my baby girl is getting married." _

_"Dad, you need to stop because if you cry, I'm going to cry and I can't afford to cry right now because I can't let my makeup run." _

_"You're all grown up." _

_"Dad." _

_"You're leaving me." _

_"Dad." _

_"You're going to start you're own family." _

_"Dad." _

_"You're going to - " _

_"I swear, if you don't stop, I'm walking down the aisle alone." _

_"Okay, I'm done."_

_"Kate..." _

_"What is it Rick?" _

_"What's this?" _

_"That's called a pregnancy test." _

_"When was it taken?" _

_"This morning." _

_"The plus sign means...?"_

_"Baby." _

_"Who's... Who's is it?" _

_"Rick?" _

_"Yeah?" _

_"We're having a baby."_

_"So this is what a first date with Richard Castle looks like." _

_"You like?" _

_"Everything but the gawking girls who all look like they want to cry when you touch me." _

_"What about when I kiss you?" _

_"Yeah, they look suicidal."_

_"Castle, Gates is watching." _

_"And?" _

_"You're holding my hands." _

_"And?" _

_"She's not going to be happy." _

_"Then she's going to blow a fuse after what I do next." _

_"Castle, I swear if you kiss me in the precinct I will... Rick? What are you..." _

_"Kate Beckett, we have had quite the relationship. Many ups and downs and we've spent more time avoiding our feelings then acting upon them, but I think that that brought us even closer. Our relationship started in this very precinct and grew with the years in this very precinct. We were standing in this very spot the moment I knew you were ready to give us a try, when you told me your walls were coming down and I'm glad I was there when they did." _

_"Yo, Kev. Is Dad doing what I think he's doing?" _

_"I think Mom's going to cry. And Mom doesn't cry." _

_"I've loved you for a long time, even though you didn't want to accept that, but we're here now and I can't imagine being anywhere but. You complete me Kate Beckett and I can't imagine my life without you. In saying that, will you marry me?" _

_"Oh Rick... Yes, yes yes!" _

_"It's about time you two got your heads out of your asses." _

_"I think Gates knew."_

_"Dada." _

_"She said Dada. Rick, Lacy said Dada." _

_"I told you she was a daddy's girl."_

_"Rick, we're married." _

_"I know. I can't believe it either." _

_"I didn't think I'd ever be this happy, especially because of a man but..." _

_"I'm glad I make you happy Kate Castle." _

_"I'm glad you make me happy too Rick."_

_"Kate?" _

_"Yeah Castle?" _

_"I'm madly in love with you." _

_"Rick..." _

_"Don't say it's too soon, don't say it hasn't been long enough. It's been five years, we just didn't figure that out quickly enough." _

_"I was going to say I'm madly and irrevocably in love with you too." _

_"You always have to one-up me, don't you?" _

_"Always."_

"I remember," Rick whispered, forgetting about the gun pressed to the back of his head. "I remember."

"You remember?"

All of a sudden, the gun was gone and the voice, having lost it's edge, sounded familiar. In fact, he knew exactly who it was.

"I remember," he exclaimed. "My life literally flashed before my eyes."

"Kate," the masked man called out. As he did this, Richark smiled when the man pulled off his mask and revealed his true identity.

"Rick," Kate said as she ran out of the bedroom. "I didn't know what else to do. Nothing was working and the doctor told me that extreme measures sometimes brought out the memories and I'm sorry but I needed to do something and -"

He cut her off by wrapping her in his arms and kissing her senseless.

"It worked. I remember and there's nothing to be sorry about. I can't believe you pulled this off."

"Years of being undercover man," Esposito, the now unmasked man said, bringing Rick in for a manly hug. "I can't believe you didn't recognize the voice. That hurts man."

"With a gun pressed against your head, it's hard to think about anything."

Kate smiled. "But you remember?"

"Everything. I made you an enormous breakfast in bed on our first anniversary, which we ended up eating for supper because..."

"Didn't need to hear that man," Esposito said as he covered his ears.

"We have kids, Espo. You must have figured out how that happened," Kate said with a laugh.

"Zach was born three weeks premature. We were worried, but he was just fine. Lacy, however, was a week late and you couldn't wait to push when the time came.

"We almost had our first real kiss in a bank, after I was held captive and a bomb blew it up. You were so happy to see me alive that you were mere seconds away from leaning in and kissing me, if it weren't for my mother."

"I was not!" Kate argued. "I was just glad you were okay, and wrapped up in the fact that my best friend had almost died."

"Keep telling yourself that," Rick said, which earned him an eye roll.

By this point, Esposito had snuck out, leaving the couple to themselves.

"Rick, do you remember what I told you the day of the accident?"

He smiled. "Of course."

"I meant it."

"I know you did."

_"Rick?" _

_"Yeah Kate?" _

_"Have I ever told you how much I love you?" _

_"Only every day, and I can't get enough of it." _

_"Have I ever told you that I'm so glad we didn't let this, what we have, pass us by?" _

_"I do believe you've told me that on a few separate occasions." _

_"Have I ever told you that you're the best thing that has ever happened in my life and that I don't know where I would be without you? That if you ever left me, if I had to go a day without knowing whether I had you or not, I probably wouldn't survive? I never wanted to be this person, the person that feels like her life would be over if a man left her, because I was always the person who mocked those girls, but I feel like that with you and I know it's because you're the only person in the world that understands me and loves me all the same. You're the only person in the world that I wouldn't be able to live without. Rick, if I didn't have you, I don't know what I would do." _

_"Kate.. I... You know I'd never leave you. Hey, wipe those tears. I'm here, and I'm not going anywhere. We're going to grow old together, and lose our minds together. We're going to die wrapped in each others arms, so that way one of us doesn't have to live without the other."_

_"Promise?" _

_"I promise." _

"I made a promise that day Kate, and I don't intend to break that promise."

Kate smiled as she wrapped her arms around the man of her life. "Good. Because I'm looking forward to the many years ahead of us."

"Me too, Kate. Me too."

**TADAA ! All done ! I hope you all enjoyed the story as much as I enjoyed writing it (: **

**Thanks for reading and reviewing. It was greatly appreciated !**


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